The 2017/18 La Liga campaign is almost at the halfway stage and Barcelona are running away with the title. Real Madrid are in fourth with a 14-point gap between them and the Catalan giants, although they do have a game-in-hand. Los Blancos travel to Vigo to face 13^th placed Celta Vigo, who have struggled after their Europa League exploits last year which saw them make the semi-finals and almost beat Manchester United.

STATS

• Celta Vigo aren’t in the best form but they have had a tough run of fixtures recently. They have won two of their last six matches, facing Barca (twice), Valencia and Villarreal in that time. Their last match was against the league leaders in the Copa del Rey and they came away with a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the last 16 tie, that was the second time they drew with them in the space of just over a month.
• Real Madrid haven’t played a lot of league football in the last month due to their involvement in the Club World Cup but they are struggling to pick up results in La Liga. Their one Spanish top-flight fixture during December saw them taken apart in El Clasico by Barcelona at the Bernabeu. They lost 3-0, not helped by the sending off of Dani Carvajal on the hour mark.
• Despite Celta Vigo’s below-par start to the season, the form of Iago Aspas has been impressive as only Lionel Messi has more goals than him in the league. The Spanish forward has scored 11 goals.
• You’d expect Cristiano Ronaldo to be battling it out with Messi for the golden boot but with just four goals, he is having an awful league season. Marco Asensio and Isco both also have four.

HEAD TO HEAD

Real Madrid have enjoyed playing against Celta Vigo in La Liga over the last few years as they have won all six of the last six league meetings. However, Sunday’s hosts did knock Zinedine Zidane’s side out of the Copa del Rey over two legs last season with a 2-1 away win and a 2-2 draw. In the six victories, Real Madrid have scored 23 times but in only one of them did Celta Vigo fail to score so they do cause problems.

CELTA VIGO NEWS

Three points for Celta could see them climb five places up to 8^th which would them put them in a position where they could push on for a European place. They are without Ruben Blanco who is suspended while Kevin Vazquez is currently injured and isn’t expected to return until next month.

Latest matches: Celta de Vigo

04.01.2018	Copa	Celta de Vigo	FC Barcelona	1:1	D
23.12.2017	LaLi	Deportivo La Coruna	Celta de Vigo	1:3	W
17.12.2017	LaLi	Celta de Vigo	Villarreal CF	0:1	L
09.12.2017	LaLi	Valencia CF	Celta de Vigo	2:1	L
02.12.2017	LaLi	FC Barcelona	Celta de Vigo	2:2	D

REAL MADRID NEWS

Real Madrid will have to wait until they play their games in hand until they can move up the table as even a win will keep them fourth. Sergio Ramos is injured and Dani Carvajal is still suspended but Karim Benzema has recovered from his injury and Gareth Bale should make the bench.

Latest matches: Real Madrid

04.01.2018	Copa	Numancia CD	Real Madrid	0:3	W
23.12.2017	LaLi	Real Madrid	FC Barcelona	0:3	L
16.12.2017	FIFA	Real Madrid	Gremio RS	1:0	W
13.12.2017	FIFA	Al Jazira Club	Real Madrid	1:2	W
09.12.2017	LaLi	Real Madrid	Sevilla FC	5:0	W

SUMMARY

Usually, Real Madrid would be massive favourites to win this one but with how they have been playing in the league, it might not be as simple as that. Celta have beaten Real Madrid and drawn to them so they know what they will need to do. The absences of Ramos and Carvajal will be felt by the visitors but they are still favourites.